1960s
Albert Prazniak, MEd ’60, Canton, OH, and his wife, Patricia, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on June 30, 2021. During the early years of their marriage, Prazniak’s wife helped him earn a master’s in school administration from Kent State while they started a family.
He started his teaching career in Mineral City, Ohio, and returned to his hometown of Massillon to teach history and physical education at Longfellow Junior High School, where he also coached the junior high football team. He was recruited for a teaching and coaching job in upstate New York and served as an administrator at several districts before retiring in 1981. The couple returned to Ohio, settling in Jackson Township after he became assistant superintendent at Springfield Local School District.
The couple agree their greatest accomplishment is raising their five children, who returned home to host a party in honor of their parents’ milestone anniversary.
Barbara Gregorich, BA ’64, Chicago, IL, wrote: “I’m so happy to report that my first young adult novel, The F Words, was published Sept. 1, 2021, by City of Light Publishing. It’s a story about the struggle for social and political justice in which the 15-year-old main character, caught spray-painting the F word on the school walls, is required to write two poems a week for his English teacher, each about a word that begins with the letter F.
“Here is a testimonial: ‘In The F Words, Gregorich’s beautifully crafted, diverse characters use the power of words to fight racism and injustice. They tackle today’s issues in a take-your-breath-away page turner that teens will want to read in one sitting. I hope this finds its way into every high school classroom.’—Roxanne F. Owens, PhD; Chair, Teacher Education, DePaul University, College of Education; Editor, Illinois Reading Council Journal.”
Hector Rodriguez (middle) salutes aside members of Veterans United for DC Statehood in May 2017. Courtesy of Hector Rodriguez
Hector Rodriguez, BA ’65, Washington, DC, founder of Veterans United for DC Statehood, was selected by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia, to accompany her at the Biden inauguration. “Hector not only served our country without voting representation, but he has continued fighting for representation for all veterans and Washingtonians,” Norton said in a press release. Since DC is not recognized as a US state, residents are not able to vote for representatives or senators and their delegates do not have a vote in Congress.
Rodriguez organized Veterans United in 2017 to advocate for equal representation and voting rights. After graduating from Kent State, where he majored in political science, and commissioning through Army ROTC as a second lieutenant, he became a captain in the US Army Strategic Communications Command. He moved to Washington, DC, in 1968, where he established himself as a political leader and advocate for veterans and Latino Americans.
Barbara K. Andreas, BA ’68, MA ’70, PhD ’80, South Bloomingville, OH, was inducted into the Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame, the state’s highest conservation honor, on Aug. 4, 2021. She dedicated more than 40 years of her professional life to the preservation of Ohio’s natural lands.
While focusing her research efforts on the distribution of mosses, Andreas also conducted plant inventories of public lands and contributed to the overall knowledge of the state’s flora and natural environment. She discovered several significant natural areas that later became state nature preserves, including Flatiron Lake Bog and Beck Fen. Her research efforts also were instrumental in developing the Floristic Quality Assessment Index, now used statewide and federally to assess a site’s biological quality.
Andreas currently serves on the board of the Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association and is a fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science. She is co-founder of the Ohio Moss and Lichen Association, was on the board of the Ohio chapter of the Nature Conservancy for 22 years, was vice president of the Native Plant Society of Ohio, member of the Ohio Natural Areas Council and served several other notable botanical and conservation-related organizations. She has written many papers and four books, including a Catalog and Atlas of the Mosses of Ohio (Ohio Biological Survey, 1996) and The Vascular Flora of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau Region of Ohio (Ohio Biological Survey, 1989).
Additionally, Andreas has been a leader in conservation at many higher education institutions. At Kent State, she received multiple awards for her work, including the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008, and she was a keynote speaker at one of Kent State’s fall 2018 commencement ceremonies. Andreas is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences (1990–2012) and former curator of the Tom S. and Miwako K. Cooperrider Herbarium at Kent State University, which houses many of the specimens she collected and identified in its bryophyte collection. She now lives in Hocking County and is an adjunct assistant professor at Ohio University.
Andreas and her husband, G. Dennis Cooke, BS ’59, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences (1967–2003), established the Dr. G. Dennis Cooke and Dr. Barbara K. Andreas Scholarship in Biological Sciences at Kent State.
Emma Lou Buck, BA ’69, Ashtabula, OH, a retired Ashtabula Area City Schools elementary school teacher, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements and leadership in social studies education, as well as the Humanitarian Award for 2021 Lifetime Achievement.
Buck taught from 1969 to 1998 in the Ashtabula schools. She was named Ashtabula County’s Senior Citizen of the Year in 2018 and received a resolution of recognition from the Saybrook Township trustees.